Members of the Birmingham branch of University and College Union (BUCU) voted in an indicative ballot by a 77.8 per cent majority in favour of action in protest at proposed job losses in the medical and dental school and the college of engineering and physical sciences.

Staff also voted by a 79.3 per cent majority in favour of action against the refusal of management to negotiate over 'grant capture' duties, forcing lecturers to pull in research grant funds as part of their roles.

Dr Roland Brandstaetter, president of BUCU, said: "Despite repeated attempts from our side making suggestions to avoid compulsory redundancies, the university is going ahead.

"They have announced their revised proposal was approved by the university council and that 25 individuals remain at risk of redundancy in neuroscience and pharmacology.

"There are no changes to the proposed 59 proposed redundancies in engineering so far."

In an email last month to the University's Provost and Vice-Principal Professor Adam Tickell, Dr Brandstaetter said: "BUCU rejects your statement about grant capture and remains firmly opposed to grant capture as a disciplinary necessity and generic duty.

"We would like to urge you to stop the implementation of your grant capture policy as set out in your statement."

But Professor Tickell said by reply: "I have read through the various comments which you have assembled from your members but, taken as a whole, they do not persuade me that our policy needs revision.

"In light of this, I am afraid this is not a matter for negotiation between the university and BUCU."

Dr Brandstaetter added: "Students pay very high fees for their education and want value for money.

"As a senior lecturer, I want to focus my work on this but we are more and more under the impression that management disagrees with this student-centred approach because many of us, including me, are targeted to generate more income and compete for external funding rather than concentrate on working with students."

BUCU is now asking management for further negotiations on the issues covered by the indicative ballot in a bid to avoid industrial action.

A statement from the University of Birmingham said: "The report that 80 jobs are going is not true. We are currently in a consultation phase and take seriously any level of redundancy.

"We anticipate that a small number of posts will no longer be needed and the overwhelming majority will be lost through voluntary measures.

"Across neuroscience and pharmacology a maximum of ten posts will be lost, seven of which have already been mitigated through voluntary measures.

"Across engineering, we anticipate the full-time equivalent of 20.5 posts will be lost and we will seek to achieve these through voluntary means.

"In common with other leading research universities, we are focused on developing and innovating our research in areas we can excel and make the biggest difference to people's lives.

"To allow us to do this, we have to reduce our activity in research areas that have not been productive or where we don't have a critical mass to deliver high-quality, competitive work. Careful consideration has been given to this refocusing.

"The university has always kept and will continue to abide by the terms of our agreement with Birmingham University and Colleges Union on seeking to avoid compulsory redundancies."

The university said it was committed to delivering the highest standards of medical education and training and the restructuring of research activities in neuroscience and pharmacology would have "no impact on the level, quality or quantity of teaching".

It is proposing to merge three schools of engineering in order to enhance the quality of its education, it says, and is constructing a £5 million teaching lab due to open in 2016.

"All of the changes are designed with students in mind and are focused on delivering improvements in innovative new teaching formats, improved practical teaching facilities, and collaborative and interdisciplinary working," the statement continued.

On the subject of grant capture, it added: "In common with other leading research universities, where academics need external funding to conduct high-quality research, the university expects, over a period of time, academics to secure such grants.

"We recognise the grant funding environment is highly competitive and provide exceptional support for academics in their applications, including training and mentoring and strong professional support."